Dead End trial: Jury to decide if defendants were masters of Asbury crime ring

Closing arguments are underway in the trial of former Asbury Park police officer Keith German along with Haneef Walker and James Fair.
THOMAS P. COSTELLO

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James Fair is shown during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Fair is on trial along with Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German and Haneef Walker.(Photo: Thomas P. Costello)Buy Photo

FREEHOLD - An assistant prosecutor replayed dozens of phone calls collected over a 14-month investigation and reiterated arguments previously made in court to convince the jury for the last time that three men on trial were guilty of fueling a crime ring out of Asbury Park.

In an hours-long summation presented on Wednesday, the day before the jury was set to start deliberating after almost three months of testimony, Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Bogner directed jurors' attention to a series of slides on a computer screen and recordings of wiretapped phone calls that Bogner said implicated defendants James "Doughboy" Fair, Haneef "Nutty" Walker, accused of being gang members, and Keith German, a former Asbury Park police officer.

For more than five hours, Bogner flipped through pages of his notes while standing in front of the jury and addressed each offense against Fair, Walker and German. After a trial that slogged through the summer, the charges and the various legal terms Bogner spoke of were familiar. Robbery. Burglary. Theft. Shoplifting. Child endangerment. Vicarious liability. Attempted murder. Official misconduct. Stalking. Racketeering.

Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Matthew Bogner delivers his closing argument during the ‘Dead End’ trial held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. On trial are James Fair, Haneef Walker and former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German.
, 25, of Asbury Park. Previous coverage has Walker's age listed as 24, but he recently had his birthday. Fair's attorney is Jeffrey Coghlan. Walker's attorney is George Mardinly. German's attorney is Robert Ward. The assistant prosecutors are Joseph Cummings and Matthew Bogner. Joseph W. Oxley is the judge. Courtroom is on the second floor, to the right when coming off the elevators. - Katie Park(Photo: Thomas P. Costello)

There were also some slang terms not immediately recognized in the standard English lexicon: There was "jux," or a robbery, Bogner said. "B***h" referred to a gun.

The sheer amount of offenses and factors involved in the crime ring pushed this case beyond just a series of isolated illegal incidents, Bogner said. Collectively, all the offenses rose to the level of a criminal enterprise, or racketeering, he said.

"There is nothing really complicated in this case against James Fair and Haneef Walker," Bogner said at the end of his summation. He noted processing the considerable amount of evidence and number of characters involved might be difficult for jurors, but that the ultimate decision to convict Fair and Walker was not.

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Haneef Walker is shown with his attorney George Mardinly during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Walker is on trial along with James Fair and Keith German.(Photo: Thomas P. Costello)

The jury ought to return a guilty verdict against Fair, Walker and German, Bogner said in conclusion late Wednesday afternoon.

German, a 48-year-old ex-cop with the Asbury Park Police Department, is on trial with Walker, who recently turned 25, and 29-year-old Fair. Authorities alleged Walker and Fair are gang members and that their ties to their groups played a large role in the crime ring, nicknamed "Dead End" for the dead-end street in which many of the crimes allegedly took place.

Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German is shown with his attorney Robert Ward during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker.(Photo: Thomas P. Costello)

Prosecutors additionally claimed over the course of the trial that Fair and Walker, among others who are not currently on trial, systematically wreaked havoc in Asbury Park and surrounding municipalities by violent and illegal means.

In a 219-count indictment handed down in 2014, Fair and Walker were accused of committing armed robberies and burglaries, selling drugs, running guns and trying to kill people they considered enemies from 2013 to 2014.

German, a 16-year member of the Asbury Park Police Department, was charged with official misconduct, in addition to conspiracy to commit stalking, stalking and hindering apprehension. Prosecutors alleged German abused his position as a police officer by using police resources and on-duty time to stalk Dorothy Howard, a woman German said he wanted to have sex with.

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Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German’s attorney Robert Ward is shown as he delivers his closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

Haneef Walker’s attorney George Mardinly is shown during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Walker is on trial along with James Fair and Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German. Thomas P. Costello

Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley addresses the jury before closing arguments were delivered in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German’s attorney Robert Ward is shown as he delivers his closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German is shown with his attorney Robert Ward during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

Haneef Walker is shown with his attorney George Mardinly during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Walker is on trial along with James Fair and Keith German. Thomas P. Costello

James Fair is shown during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Fair is on trial along with Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

James Fair is shown during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Fair is on trial along with Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

James Fair is shown during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Fair is on trial along with Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German is shown with his attorney Robert Ward during closing arguments held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker. Thomas P. Costello

Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Matthew Bogner delivers his closing argument during the ‘Dead End’ trial held before Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. On trial are James Fair, Haneef Walker and former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German.
, 25, of Asbury Park. Previous coverage has Walker's age listed as 24, but he recently had his birthday. Fair's attorney is Jeffrey Coghlan. Walker's attorney is George Mardinly. German's attorney is Robert Ward. The assistant prosecutors are Joseph Cummings and Matthew Bogner. Joseph W. Oxley is the judge. Courtroom is on the second floor, to the right when coming off the elevators. - Katie Park Thomas P. Costello

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German was also accused of commanding an effort to tack posters around town that were emblazoned with Howard's face and a statement that said Howard "was the face of HIV." German had put up the posters and then planned to come to Howard's rescue as a helpful cop, prosecutors said. Prosecutors noted Fair helped spread the flyers around in public in exchange for German's help to tip off local gang members.

Bogner summarized the details of each offense against Fair, Walker and German and often referred to video clips of the defendants being investigated by detectives or snippets from wiretapped phone calls. The video clips and calls were proof of the defendants' wrongdoing, Bogner said, and noted they added extra weight to other evidence state authorities had gathered and presented over the course of the trial.

The summation by Bogner on Wednesday was a lengthy response to an equally long series of arguments put forth the day before by the attorneys defending Fair, Walker and German.

On Tuesday, the defense attorneys questioned the credibility of more than one of the state's witnesses, and focused on just how honest Ciara Williams — one of the state's star witnesses — was. As stated previously during the trial, authorities said Williams, who has a toddler daughter with her ex-boyfriend Fair, shoplifted regularly, assisted in burglaries and sometimes sold drugs for Fair while they were dating.

The credibility of Howard, the woman who German allegedly stalked, was also given attention Tuesday by Robert Ward, who is defending German in the trial. Ward said Howard had been convicted of criminal offenses, as had many other people in her family, and said Howard sent "vile, malicious texts" to German before Howard had stopped personally talking to the cop.

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Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley addresses the jury before closing arguments were delivered in Freehold Wednesday, August 29, 2017. Former Asbury Park Police officer Keith German is on trial along with James Fair and Haneef Walker.(Photo: Thomas P. Costello)

Many of the people who testified for the state received generous plea deals from prosecutors, the defense attorneys for Fair and Walker said Tuesday.

Jeff Coughlin, the attorney for Fair, additionally challenged on Tuesday the phone call recordings prosecutors used as evidence in the trial. Coughlin said the phone conversation are not official statements, and that the defendants did not know their calls were wiretapped by authorities. Fair's voice was in many of the calls prosecutors played in court.

And George Mardinly, the attorney representing Walker, argued his client barely had a role in the alleged crime ring. Aside from an instance in which Walker confessed to authorities "right out of the gate" that he had a bag of cocaine for personal use, Mardinly said there was no proof that Walker was deeply involved with crime.

Mardinly also noted, by reading an extensive list before the jury Tuesday, that very few witnesses who called to the stand by the state during the trial even mentioned Walker.

Bogner pushed back.

The prosecutors didn't choose the life circumstances for their witnesses, Bogner said Tuesday and Wednesday. And, besides, Williams was a credible witness, Bogner said — she recalled details from alleged criminal incidents before authorities told her what they had discovered.

"No wire calls were played for her, Bogner said of Williams on Tuesday. "What she said matched up to the calls ... she has a very good memory and attention to detail."

Altogether, the state's evidence and the state's witnesses proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Fair, Walker and German were all part of orchestrating a criminal enterprise, Bogner said. The means of operating the enterprise may have been non-traditional, he said, but the means were solid and rooted in habit.

Bogner said the alleged crime ring repeatedly used the same methods to evade apprehension. He said Fair and Walker, among other people, used lookouts, strapped guns to their chests so the weapons would be less noticeable through clothing, talked in code and avoided talking for too long over the phone to avoid suspected wiretaps.

Fair and Walker were deliberate in their actions, Bogner said. He urged the jury to consider the evidence before them and convict.

The trial is being tried before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley.